A Suspicious Case of the Spots

I was ready to hand over bath and bedtime duties to Daddy when he got home last week. On his first night home, I was reclining in my reading chair when I heard him call from the bathroom:

"Hey, Shan, Meggie has some red spots on her chest...they look kind of bad."

I called back: "Yeah, I know, she's had them for like a week. I'm not worried - you know how her skin is, so sensitive to everything. She probably just had a reaction to the laundry detergent or something." I returned to reading my book.

"Uhhh, babe, I don't know...you might wanna come look at this."

I sighed. And heaved myself up to go inspect.

To my surprise, they did look a little worse, snaking a trail around her left rib cage, little insect kisses looking things.

Kyle said: "You know, they kinda look like the chickenpox."

"What? No way. There's no possible way she could have the chickenpox. She had the vaccine and everything."

K: "Ooookay, but I'm not so sure. I think that's what they are."

Humph. Two days later I took Meggie girl to the doctor when the rash was still clinging on...and to my wonder and surprise the doctor declared:

chickenpox!!!

??? Apparently some kids DO get the chickenpox even with the vaccine. Apparently some kids like Meggie, who, poor girl, tends to come down with everything weird, strange, and extraordinary.

Thank goodness it's a mild case. Thank goodness it's already clearing up. Thank goodness she got the chickenpox before Baby Girl came out. Thank goodness she's our trooper girl, still smiling, giggling, climbing, running, skipping even with the plagues of a suspicious case of the spots.

And thank goodness I don't mind the taste of crow...because I've sure been soaking it up since the verdict. :)

Hellos and Good-byes

Hello! I've been exhausted lately...too tired to do anything but nap and chase Meggie. Thankfully, Kyle is home. Home until Baby Girl comes and a little longer after that. Home, sigh...with his help, we can make it to the end of this pregnancy and through the beginning of a new life in our family.

And, speaking of life...

Meggie said a sweet bye-bye to her teachers on Thursday. She's been attending a little program for a few hours on Thursdays at a church down the road from us, but they take the summer off with the rest of Edmond schools. We dressed our girl up for her last big day and couldn't help but reflect on the day when she said, "Hello!" back in August...

oh, my precious little bebe...I mean, LOOK, she wasn't even walking on her own...
(and I wasn't even pregnant! :) )

But, now, she's practically a grown-up beauty:


Here she is just relaxing after her last day of school...I couldn't quite convince her to give up her juice for the sake of my documentary. :)



take a peek at those skinned up legs - don't let the dress fool you, she's our rough-and-tumble tomboy (for now, anyways)

With Kyle home, Meggie in school, and one last MAJOR item to take care of on our "before Baby Girl comes checklist," we had ample time to go minivan shopping. Eeeek. My 11-year-old Camry and Kyle's 10-year-old stick-shift Passat just weren't cutting it anymore - especially with another wee one on the way. So, we planned for expansion and took the plunge. As I said to Kyle while we were test-driving vehicles, "Wow, K, this is great! This van seats 7 passengers...that means we can start working on having five kids!" He choked on his drink, and after a moment replied, "Uhhh...in terms of spacing and seating, can Douglass count as one of those kids?" :)

Seriously, though, we are super excited and feel humbled by God's provision in lining up the perfect car for our growing family, at the perfect price, and in the perfect timing. And, we're both committed to filling up those seats if that's what's in our future. 27. 2 kids. 1 mortgage and a minivan. I think we're officially grown-up.

Hello, Honda!

Okay, this is what you've REALLY been waiting for...

...because if I look hot, tired, swollen, and 38 weeks pregnant, it's because I AM!

Hello, 38 weeks. I think that's how we got such a great deal - the salesman was convinced that I was going into labor at any second - and Kyle and I were, too, judging by my definite contractions as we were signing the paperwork. :)

Baby Girl could come at any moment, and we are all feeling the unknown and excitement. How is it that we got here so fast? All that's left to do now is pack our hospital bags...and decide on a name. I know, I know, we said we had it all picked out and we do...kind of. It's come down to two - and we're seeing what she looks like when she arrives before making the final decision. With one, we for sure have a middle name. For the other, we keep throwing out possibilities. Poor little no-name child. (Personal aside to the baby: See, little one, all the more reason to make your appearance sooner rather than later. Let's not pull a "your sister" this time around, OK?")

for fun, here's Meggie girl at like 37/38 weeks

We're going to drag the baby car seat out of the attic today, dust it off, and load it up in our new ride. I can't wait to see it nestled all in there, just ready and waiting for a special delivery.

At the grocery store today, a nice old gentleman told me he didn't think I looked like I would make it another 2 weeks. I hope, I hope, I hope he's right. We're eager to say, "Hello, baby" and "Bye, Bye pregnancy round #2."

A few of my favorite things

I love this moment: she was patting the grass next to her asking me to, "Sit."

Some days, now that Baby Girl is so close (by the by: she's doing great! On Wednesday, she was measuring 36.5 weeks - perfect - is head down, heartbeat in the 140s, and got an, "I would be so, so, so surprised if she's as big as her sister was," from my midwife. Sweet.), by 4:30 or 5:00 o'clock, my body is TIRED. On these days, Meggie and I retreat to the outdoors where she runs free and I sit braced up against the fence, thighs tickled by the twiggy grass, attempting mastery of the photo lens.

I captured these the other day, an example of a couple of Meggie's current favorite things:

crawling in her slidey-house


sittin' on the fire pit


playing with sticks


her face when I told her, "Meggie, you have too many sticks in your house, take some back, please."


playin' with her puppy and what a handsome puppy he is


sliding and smiling


and taking off and putting on her shoes






experimenting by putting a blade of grass in her shoe




the look of concentration






peeking through the fence

Sunday Thoughts

The Sunday service at church was dedicated to recognizing our graduating seniors. To kick off the celebration, they played a slideshow of each senior - with a baby picture, middle picture, and senior picture. I found my eyes welling with tears thinking of each 18 years represented on the screen - 18 years of love, sacrifice, thought, training, service put in by each parent and the promise reflected in each picture. Of course, my thoughts also focused on Meggie girl, how each life was reduced to a few seconds of time and three pictures and suddenly my time with Meggie seemed just as short.

I love the phrase: "the days are long, but the years are short." How can it be that my Meggie is almost two and about to be a big sister? How can it be that one day she'll be just like those girls on the screen - stretching her independence outside of our home? How can it be? Oh, I loved her so much in that moment - imagining the woman that she's becoming a little more each day...and feeling grateful that I do get to spend these years with her.

Kinda made me forget all about our harrowing morning on the way to church when Meggie tore through the children's building banging on the brand-new like 2,000 dollar canvas paintings and our dramatic good-bye at the nursery door...at 20 months, we've finally encountered separation anxiety. :)

One day those moments will be the memories that make Kyle and me laugh, and probably cry, as we recount them on the way home from bidding our girl farewell at college.

You are dear to us, Margaret Lillian, and we count our time with you as precious beyond measure.

***

For some reason, I never got around to posting these pictures when they happened (1/7/11), but just needed to include something for today:

Daddy, Meggie, and a guitar...my musical little bunch
(boy, her hair sure has grown in a few short months)

so in love

p.s. when I was looking through my old pictures to find these, I totally felt my stomach churn as pictures around this timeframe were tied to memories of terrible morning sickness...does that happen to anybody else?

For my Hubby tonight, Far Away...

Hey, K, wanna take a guess at who she reminds me of when our girl poses like so:

(you!)

and just because she's the cutest ever:








our Gerber Baby girl

Though it's always difficult seeing you leave, I am hopeful this trip because it's the last hurdle between us and meeting Baby Girl. When you get home, it's Baby Time! These little girls are just beginning to learn how special they are to have a daddy like you: kind, thoughtful, imaginative, dedicated to their lives.

Do you remember when we found out Baby Girl was another girl? Sometimes people would ask you if you were disappointed that she wasn't a boy. On one occasion you responded, "no, I'm excited and happy to have two girls. I love girls." And this friend replied, "You know, I think God handpicks those dads He wants to give all girls to - they're a special breed of dads, caring and compassionate - they have to be with girls and all those emotions."

I loved this thought because that's how you are to me. Nurturing, tender, and true. You are our leader, provider, protector, and shelter - we love you. And, as soon as you get home, I can't wait to welcome this newest daughter into our family with you.

Oh, Today

I just love, love this picture.

Number 53 on my, oh, 70+ things off "to do before Baby Girl comes" checklist is (or was) "learn how to use new camera lens," given to me by Kyle and Meggie for my birthday in March. Trying to take absolute advantage of every second of help before Kyle's last trip (before baby), I whipped out my lens and got to practicing.

A portion of our day in pictures:

sneaking into the pantry for a "cra-ka"


look at his sweet eyes - the greatest, kindest puppy dog known to Meggie girl

Okay...so...all morning we searched for new kitchen chairs - item #23 on the list - currently, we're using my desk chair, a yard sale chair, and borrowing two chairs from friends for our table. We.Need.New.Chairs. And my nesting instinct says - We.Need.New.Chairs.NOW. Meggie was the most patient shopper we could have dreamed of, BUT she did fall asleep for like 20 minutes in the car on the way to lunch. Big - Huge - Sigh. All of you parents of ultra-scheduled toddlers out there can empathize...because Meggie counted those 20 minutes as her full, normally 2.5/3 hour nap. Long story, but all to say that after we tried putting her down (unsuccessfully), the afternoon was a bit sad for our Meggie girl. So sad that we had to break out the bubbles.

I'm gonna miss this daddy around here.




can you spot her little scar? her stitches finally fell out this week.


oh, I knew there was a two-year-old moment in here somewhere. :)


so, we went outside to play and all was well.




sliding. BTW: my mom sent Meggie this hippo shirt and I just love it.


look at those ringlets - just look at them!

and...

Peek-a-Boo! Baby Girl at 35 weeks.


pulled my dress back for a different look - we're getting closer!